Snow Blues
by Silver Starfire 217
Summary: Shinjiro's spending some time with Koromaru and Hamuko at the shrine, because Hamuko thinks that presents that cost money are overrated.


**A present for an awesome friend. Hope it brings a smile to your face!**

**Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate!**

* * *

Shinjiro waited for Koromaru to run back with his toy. It was that time of year again; Christmas. Shinjiro didn't completely care too much for Christmas. It wasn't quite his forte, giving gifts or anything like that. He wasn't even that good at acting cheerful with all that 'Christmas spirit' or whatever. But, he figured he could at least give Koromaru a day out at the shrine to spend time with his late owner and all. Dogs had those kinds of needs too.

He didn't really tell anyone that he was going out with Koromaru, since he also wanted some alone time. And Koromaru didn't exactly equate to that much talking company; mostly because, Koromaru couldn't speak at all. He could bark, snarl and growl, but he didn't speak. So in that respect, Shinjiro was quite alone.

So, Shinjiro didn't expect to find a sudden weight and force on his back, and he almost tripped over because of it. But being as strong as he was, he was able to recover before anything really bad happened. "Hey, whatcha doing here?" he heard someone all too familiar ask.

"Ninja as ever…" Shinjiro muttered. He knew who it was. There were only so many people that hugged, no, glomped that openly. Actually, there was only one person that did that, and it was Hamuko. Only Hamuko was bold enough to do something like that. "What are you doing here then?" he asked as he fixed his beanie into place again.

Hamuko got off of Shinjiro with a giggle and finally moved to face him. "Eh, just saw you around, and just wanted to say hi!" she smiled. "You hanging out with anybody or something right now?" Hamuko asked with a grin. Knowing Shinjiro, he probably wasn't hanging out with a 'person.'

"Well, aside from this furball," Shinjiro pointed at Koromaru who was coming back from a successful catch. Well, Koromaru was that fast after all, so he wasn't all that surprised to see him back too soon. "I'm the only one here," he explained as Koromaru sidled up to Shinjiro's leg and sat, tail wagging and tongue still hanging out.

"Oh, I see! Hello Koro-chan," Hamuko waved to the Shiba-Inu, who gave a happy bark in response.

"So now that you've said your 'hi', you aren't going to tell me you were here just because you saw me," Shinjiro said gruffly. "This place is out of the way…"

Hamuko got into a pretend thinking position and pressed her finger lightly onto her chin. "Well… I think it had something to do with it being Christmas and giving out presents, or praying for well-wishes… something like that," she smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Ah. So you came to pray," Shinjiro nodded. "I didn't really do my prayers," he said. Besides, he didn't think of his wish as that much to worry about.

"Yeah… oh! Do you wanna then?" Hamuko asked.

Shinjiro sighed. He knew that she was probably going to ask that. "Sure," he said, almost begrudgingly. Though he really wasn't at the prospect; that was just how his tone came off.

"Come on!" she laughed as she took a hold of Shinjiro's wrist and dragged him over to the offertory box and the bell. Koromaru followed along just after the two of them.

Shinjiro quietly mused about how bubbly she was, even in the frankly dismal weather. It was cold, but yet not enough for it to be snowing. The smile that she had on was worth being taken along like he was; really, he didn't mind, even if it sounded like he was complaining about it. "Alright, alright…" Shinjiro muttered as they finally reached the offertory box. "Now stop dragging me around," he sighed.

"Yay," Hamuko grinned as she removed a few coins from her pocket. In that respect, she really was prepared to pray once she got to the shrine.

Shinjiro did the same after Hamuko and pulled the rope on the bell above the shrine, joining his hands as he prayed.

Hamuko seemingly took a bit longer to pray than Shinjiro did, and he ended up having to wait for her for a little bit until she was done. Once Hamuko opened her eyes, she gave a sheepish look and smile to Shinjiro before saying, "Sorry, I took so long…"

"It's no big deal," Shinjiro shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Hm, if you say so," Hamuko replied. "So, did you wish for anything in particular? You don't have to tell me, I'm just gonna tell you what I wished for anyways," she laughed.

"Then tell yours first," Shinjiro said.

"I was kinda wishing that everyone in SEES would be able to stay together for as long as possible," Hamuko smiled, thinking about it. Granted, it wasn't a realistic wish and she knew that. But she could dream. Shinjiro had the same thoughts, thinking that it wouldn't last for that long.

Shinjiro nodded and sighed slightly. "I wished to… forget… about some stuff," he said with a slightly pained expression.

Hamuko blinked, already knowing what kind of things that he meant, but she asked the obvious question anyways. "Really? Like what?" she asked.

Shinjiro lowered his head as he thought about the things that he had done so painfully wrong. Surely, the memories he had were not all too pleasant. "You probably already know," he mumbled.

Hamuko nodded to herself. She did. But in spite of what she knew, she smiled. "It's okay! You have time, however much you have of it, you still have some!" she reassured, placing her hand on Shinjiro's shoulder.

Shinjiro sighed. There was something about the way that she reassured him… and the recurring thought was this: how the hell does this girl make me feel so… weak? "Tch, I guess… why don't you go back? You probably have people to give gifts to," he mumbled. It was yet another one of his attempts to distance himself from Hamuko.

But knowing Hamuko, she was extremely stubborn. And she didn't want to leave Shinji alone. "Eh, you're no fun. Besides, I don't have much in the ways of gifts at all, so I've just been going around and spending time with everyone. And that, includes you so you're stuck with me for another half hour," she said playfully, sticking her tongue out.

And right at the very moment…

A snowflake fell, right on her tongue. Shinjiro looked up at the greyed skies and said quietly, "Snow?"

"Damn, that's cold," Hamuko pouted and deadpanned at the sky as the snowflake melted quickly. "Why that very moment sky?" she sighed.

Shinjiro smirked slightly and chuckled, "Because it's cliché."

Hamuko sighed and muttered about coincidences and Fate. "I have to wonder about my luck," she mumbled before she returned her gaze to Shinjiro.

Shinjiro thought about how amusing her reaction was before he noticed that she was staring at him intently. "…something on my face?" he asked.

"Nup! I just think you should smile more often, that's all," Hamuko replied nonchalantly. However her expression turned into a smirk as she thought of another remark. "Always scowling like that, you're gonna get wrinkles early, old man," she snickered as Shinjiro's blank expression turned into more of a deadpan.

"Don't call me old man," Shinjiro muttered. "How can you always be smiling? You look like an eight year old kid sometimes," he shot back.

Hamuko merely smiled at that, and replied, "But at least eight year olds don't have wrinkles." She grinned as Shinjiro kept deadpanning at her.

Though really, he was thinking about how easily he walked into that joke. However, Shinjiro being Shinjiro, he hid that fact. "Whatever," he said.

Hamuko giggled. "Awwh, don't take it so hard Shinji! You can save yourself from the wrath of the wrinkles yet!" she laughed. "Can't you smile for once?" she pouted.

Shinjiro cursed himself, thinking about how adorable that expression was. Come on, just play along with what she says and everything will be fine. "Like… this?" he asked, a half-hearted smile creasing his face.

Hamuko scrutinized his expression for a while before saying, "Ehh, Shinji… what the heck can I do to make you smile? That's not real!" she pouted once more.

What can you do to make me smile, huh? Shinjiro thought about it, and before long, another, true smile came onto face.

Unbeknownst to Shinjiro who was still stuck in his thoughts, Hamuko saw that smile. "Wow…" she said quietly, trapped in wonder at how happy he looked. "That looks so much better! You should smile like that more often Shinji!" she said, breaking Shinjiro from his thoughts.

Crap! He was smiling!? "No, I'm not smiling…" he said defiantly, turning away from Hamuko.

Hamuko merely giggled and pressed, "You were! Don't deny it!"

"Hmph," Shinjiro mumbled, still turned away from her.

"Difficult aren't you?" she said, but despite those words… she smiled as she thought of it. "It makes me happier to see you smiling a lot more, so can't you?" Hamuko asked. She knew that Shinjiro cared for her a lot, so it was bit of something that she could use to her advantage. Besides, smiling a lot was a good thing.

If it made Hamuko happier huh? "Maybe," he said.

Hamuko punched Shinjiro on the shoulder lightly, but smiled a little more. Getting closer to what she wanted to hear. "Just 'maybe' Shinji?" she laughed.

Shinjiro sighed and faced Hamuko again, this time with a smile. "There, happy?"

Hamuko pretended to scrutinize Shinjiro's expression, but she knew as soon as she saw that smile that it was for real. "Yeah…" she replied, smiling back at Shinjiro.

Shinjiro sighed. "You really are a piece of work, you know that?"

"Proud of it!" she giggled.

Shinjiro shook his head. She was like that, all the time… "Figures…"

"Yup!" she replied. A cold breeze passed by the three at the shrine, and it made Hamuko pull up her scarf so that she could stay warmer. "But geez, it's getting cold though… Don't you think we should go back now? Koro-chan might be cold too. He's weak to cold, isn't he," she said, throwing a worried glance to Koromaru, who whined as another wind picked up.

"Yeah, we should," Shinjiro replied. "I think he's had enough time with his late owner already…"

"Cool! I think Koromaru's had his fun too," Hamuko smiled, before pausing. "…pun not intended!" she said, after realizing what she said.

Shinjiro snorted at that lame joke before saying, "Sure it wasn't…"

"Yup! I'm so glad you agree!" Hamuko said sarcastically.


End file.
